Coventry University has helped aluminium foundry Alucast explore how recycled aluminium can be processed into high-grade materials.
In the UK vital sectors such as automotive and defence rely on primary grade aluminium alloys for their products, but the country currently doesn’t produce enough and imports huge amounts of the material – up to 1.25 million tonnes - each year.
As part of the Clean Futures Programme, Coventry University has teamed up with West Midlands-based Alucast to see how some end-of-life aluminium could be sourced and processed to meet this very high grade.
Much end-of-life aluminium is too contaminated to reach the purity required by certain UK industries.
Through studying the lifecycle of the material and the way it is processed after use, researchers at the university’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) have identified opportunities where it can be sourced and re-processed to the grade required.
By identifying these opportunities, the university is helping Alucast to reduce carbon emissions, reduce costs and preserve the planet’s resources.
